The dairy checkoff-led Fuel Up to Play 60 program and the Gen YOUth Foundation co-hosted a childhood obesity summit with The Washington Post on Feb. 15.

The “Weighing In on America’s Future: Childhood Obesity Summit” highlighted successful approaches and programs, including Fuel Up to Play 60 and Gen YOUth, that are helping America’s children become healthier.

More than 160 leading national decision-makers, health and nutrition professionals, academia, media and business leaders provided insight on childhood obesity through panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions and a live on-site poll. Dairy producers representing the checkoff-funded National Dairy Council (NDC) also attended.

The event was one piece of a larger, long-term, multi-pronged dairy checkoff strategy to grow sales of healthy dairy products and ingredients, build lifelong dairy values among the next generations of consumers and protect dairy’s right to operate.

Panel sessions focused on the role of government in childhood health and wellness, impact on health, and the role of schools and the community.

“The dairy industry and the many respected participants of this summit are helping to make a positive impact on the lives of our nation’s children,” said Paul Rovey, Arizona dairy producer and chair of Dairy Management Inc.™, which manages the national dairy checkoff. “While we can’t solve the problem alone, we are finding that collaboration and common goals can get us much closer to making a change. And what’s good for childhood nutrition is good for dairy.”

Following the panel discussions, Chef Carla Hall (Gen YOUth board member and Top Chef All-Star) served a lunch school-cafeteria style that showcased how a healthy meal can meet dietary guidelines, including low-fat dairy, within a school budget.

White House Chef and Policy Advisor Sam Kass spoke about nationwide initiatives, including Let’s Move! and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, and grassroots programs working to improve childhood nutrition.

The summit generated an ongoing conversation on social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook. NDC social media activities (Fuel Up to Play 60 Facebook page, NDC Facebook page, Gen YOUth and NDC Twitterfeeds) and efforts byThe Washington Post helped encourage participation to watch a live stream of the summit.